What It Means To Breathe
Woo new fic with a secret OC cuz the whole point is to keep it a secret til the end .3. But I want it to be from two different, alternating povs, so if you have an aspiring musician who barely gets by/lives in the streets in a city, I'm looking at you .3. I'll code it and stuff later When you're young, you're invincible. Nothing anyone says can hurt you. Emm carefully guided her precious cargo through the alleys, ignoring the icy rain biting into her scales. The tiny hybrid taking extra care to avoid the eyes of the dragons around her. She quietly slid between two buildings, taking the extremely narrow passage to a forgotten structure. It may have been a house at one point, the thing seemed tiny surrounded by towering gray buildings on all sides. There were a few windows, so dirty that looking through them was like trying to look through the stone wall immediately outside of them. There was a door, terribly squeaky and missing the doorknob. Inside the dragonet knew it would be warm and dry. As she put her talon to the door to push it open, she wondered if another dragon was already inside. There was another dragon inside, a huge, magnificent, strong SkyWing dragoness. At least, that's how Emm saw her mother. In truth she was unhealthily thin, and exhausted. The dragoness was curled up in a corner, on the small pile of rags they had. Clinging desperately to any bit of sleep she could get as if it would run away and she would be forced to work forever. The otherwise mostly empty house was silent, and Emm walked to the middle of the floor, immediately knowing why her mother was home from work early. The dragonet set down her precious luggage, and opened the guitar case, quietly moving the few coins she had earned to the middle of the floor, where it was supposed to join the money her mother would bring home. This was the third time this week her mother had been fired, which Emm believed was wholefully unfair. The two dragonesses worked so hard every day, Emm playing her stolen guitar without knowing the names of the notes, and her mother working as many hours as physically possible at whatever job she could find, usually getting fired due to her lack of sleep. Yet Emm was fine with her life. She was still alive, after all. And with all the hard work they did, someday, it was gonna pay off. Emm knew it. Because it had to. Emm went to the side of the house opposite her mother. There was a small kitchen. She opened the single cupboard where they kept their food. There wasn't much left, she would have to wait to eat until tomorrow. ---- (text here) But then you grow up, and they start leaving scars, tearing you apart little by little. Emm's talons lead the way along the familiar route, her guitar held securely under her wing. She slid between the buildings, not hesitating when she pushed the door open. Yet there was something strange about the empty house, her mother had lost her most recent job only yesterday, had she found another one already? As Emm walked to the middle of the house, a scrap of paper caught her eye. She set down her guitar case and picked up the note. The writing was tiny and rushed, almost illegible in some places. But it wasn't meant to be fully understood, it wasn't emotional or anything, it was straight to the point. I can't support both of us. I found better work, in a different place. You can take care of yourself. A bit of money had been left under the note. Emm grabbed it and put it in the guitar case, she didn't need to share it with anyone now. Her mother wasn't doing everything for them anymore, Emm had to take care of herself. Focus on her needs. Emm walked over to the cupboard, and opened it. Empty. It made sense, she had eaten yesterday. Today it would be her mother's turn. She went back over to her guitar, and picked out enough for food. She could eat everyday now, there was only one dragon to support. Only one dragon. A thought crossed Emm's mind, and she walked around a bit, testing for loose floorboards. She managed to pry one up, and slid a single coin underneath it. There was only one dragon now. Emm remembered years ago, when she decided all their hard work would pay off, because that's how things worked. Because it had to. She had lost hope in that, but that single coin, a single coin every day, it was starting to look like maybe, it would. ---- (text here) And eventually, you've become a puppet, and someone else is pulling at the strings. (text here) ---- (text here) Then the strings get tangled, and one becomes wrapped around your neck. (text here) ---- (text here) And you come so close to cutting that string. (text here) ---- (text here) But something holds you back, and the strings fall away. (text here) ---- (text here) And you start putting the pieces back together, getting stronger. (text here) ---- (text here) And it's not perfect, but you're still here. Still alive. (text here) ---- (text here) And you realize what it means to breathe. Category:LunaTheEclipse's Stuff